I'm def planning on being a reg there, anyone else making the move? Who all is gonna be there Wednesday night for the opening? I think the "2p2 meet" spot is gonna be the center bar, then hopefully we can get some flipaments going on.

**********FAQ for Hard Rock Tampa Casino. [Thank you to parisron for putting it together!]

Is there a poker room hotel rate? No.

Where can I stay close to the casino?

The hard rock hotel's best rate is usually $159/night and that is slow weekdays.
Likely $200-$300/night and even higher on weekends most of the time.

On US301 1 mile away there are several nice hotels, red roof inn, holiday inn express, la quinta and comfort suites. They are usually in the $70-$100/night range.

There are 2 other cheaper options, east lake inn which is half mile away and walking distance if needed on hillsborough ave that runs about $50/night and what used to be motel 6 but was recently renovated into knights inn and added coffee makers, refrigerators, microwave and free wi fi in each room. Its on US301 about 1 mile away and around $40/night.

What is the best place to park?

The distance to the poker room is about the same for all parking lots. There is one shortcut to current first-floor poker room location, if you don't mind walking stairs and outside:

When you pull in off Hillsborough Av. and the parking garages are right in front of you, go up the ramp and turn right (i.e., if you're heading south on the up ramp). There's a sign that says Elite Parking in the entrance to the garage to the left - you want the other garage on the right. If you come in off Orient Road and enter the parking garages from the south side (heading north on the up ramp), the garage you want is on the left. This is the garage that is closest to the casino.

Park anywhere there, level 2 or 3. Go down the middle stairs to outside (on the West side of the garage, Southern-most stairway), and then you walk around the smoke shop (actually through their drive through lane) and it leads you to the back/outside smoking area for the poker room, to go in those doors.

Note that for special tournament series, the tournament tables are set up in a different area of the casino (near the Rise Bakery), and this back entrance to the poker room will not get you there.

What games run there?

On a daily basis on average this is what will be running in afternoon and evening:
1/1nl $40-$100. Usually 1 to 2 games going.
1/2nl $60-$300. Usually 6 to 10 games going.
2/5nl $200-$1000. Usually 3 to 6 games going.
5/10nl $500-$2500 Usually 0 or 1 game going.

3/6 limit omaha h/l. Usually 1 to 3 games, often with a full kill.
6/12 limit omaha h/l. Runs occasionally, possibly with a full kill.
2/4 limit hold em. Usually 4 to 6 games.
1-5 stud with .50 ante. Usually 1 or 2 games. Stud and omaha usually run between 9am to midnight.

1/2/5 PLO $100-$500. Runs occasionally.
2/5 or 5/5 PLO $200-$1000 Usually 1 or 2 games going.
5/10 PLO $500-$5000 Usually runs on Fridays and occasionally at other times.

Do they have comps?

Comp Dollars are earned for live poker play, using your Seminole Wild Card:

Comp Dollars can be redeemed at hotels, restaurants, bars, lounges and retail stores at all Seminole casinos in Florida. They cannot be used at the Food Court.

The redemption rate for comp dollars at all locations accepted is 1 comp dollar equals one real dollar.

Comp Dollars cannot be used at slot machines, table games or poker tables.

(Unexpired Bravo poker rewards dollars earned before Oct 1, 2015 can no longer be redeemed but can be exchanged at the poker podium for equal value in Comp Dollars.)

What is the rake?

All games are 10% up to $5 max and rake is rounded up at $5, with $1 minimum rake every hand; $1 jackpot drop is taken at $10:

$1 rake on any pot up to $9
$1 rake plus $1 jackpot drop on $10 to $14
$2 plus $1 on $15 to $24
$3 plus $1 on $25 to $34
$4 plus $1 on $35 to $44
$5 plus $1 on $45 on up

60% of the jackpot drop goes to the Bad Beat Jackpots.
40% of the jackpot drop goes to the Poker Marketing Promotion Fund to pay for other jackpot payouts (e.g., high hands) and Poker Rewards (comps).

They never lower the rake for short-handed tables. Rake is dropped even when there is no flop. Chopping blinds with no drop is allowed (although on occasion a dealer will drop anyway).

Is there a bad beat or promos?

The main bad beat is for Holdem only. It starts at $5000, and increases daily until it reaches a cap of $50,000. It usually takes less than two weeks after being hit to reach the cap. You must have quad tens or better get beat, and both players must use both cards in their hand. For quads, a pocket pair in the hand is required. There are separate bad beats each for Omaha and 7card Stud. The Omaha bad beat is capped at $10,000.

There are various promos from month to month, some of the better ones, IMO are $150 gas card for 20 hours of play each week. Total $600 for month!
25 hours a week for $150 visa cards and some other similar.
Ipods and Ipads have been given away and High hand bonuses are given some months.

Jackpot awards - IDs required

To receive any sort of jackpot/promotional award, including high hands, bad beat, gas card awards, tournament seats, etc. (as well as tournament wins over 5K), two forms of ID are required. If you have just one ID on you, they will allow you to come back later with another ID to claim the award. If you have no ID on you, they will deny you the award and may kick you out of the casino.

Note that you will receive a 1099-MISC for any jackpot/promotional award, and any tournament win over 5K. It is supposed to be W-2G Forms according to IRS rules, but they do it wrong.

Is there Tournaments daily?

Yes, They range from $100-$550 and the bigger the buy in the more chips and time between levels. Average fields are 40-60 and saturday a bit more.

Is there player cash boxes? No.

***If you would like to contribute to this FAQ, please send a PM to Browser2920***

I'm def planning on being a reg there, anyone else making the move? Who all is gonna be there Wednesday night for the opening? I think the "2p2 meet" spot is gonna be the center bar, then hopefully we can get some flipaments going on.

Lol that you berated me for suggesting to move your "Flip" chat from the Legislation thread over to B&M (even suggested the thread I started for it be locked iirc) and now here you are starting your own thread and chatting it up.

Not really meant as an "F U" flame, just a friendly "I told you so..." jab

Lol that you berated me for suggesting to move your "Flip" chat from the Legislation thread over to B&M (even suggested the thread I started for it be locked iirc) and now here you are starting your own thread and chatting it up.

Not really meant as an "F U" flame, just a friendly "I told you so..." jab

yeah dude u totally got me brah! so you gonna be a degenerate and flip with us or what!?

I hear the New chips, which will be BJ chips for now but Brand New, will be swapped for the old poker chips before noon Tomorrow.
Also they will get a big tv up front with the bravo list, so it can be seen from around the room. And supposedly getting 10 new TV's 55".
Maybe we can actually read the damn scores now. No word on when exactly this will happen.

Nobody seems to know if we can get on list for bigger games 1 hour before midnight, 2 hours, etc. should be a cluster F for sure.

i'll be there all weekend long (starting thursday night) and if the games are as juicy as i suspect i'll be there 30+ hrs/wk for a while. i might make it to the meeting at the center bar tomorrow but i'm not sure. i'm pretty sure it's more EV for me to start my poker weekend on thursday night instead of wednesday night. anyways, i'm very excited and i've been thinking about this every 5 mins for the last couple of weeks. let's hope we do become the biggest state for poker.